The company is investing about $165 million in order to triple production on its new hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle as a result of strong demand from corporate and public sectors. Two additional lines will be added to produce fuel-cell stacks and hydrogen tanks at Toyota's factory in Aichi Prefecture by the end of next year while additional equipment for vehicle assembly will be upgraded.
Toyota expects orders will likely exceed the current annual capacity of 700 units and plans to sell at least 400 Mirais in Japan by the end of 2015. Deliveries to the U.S. and Europe are scheduled to begin in the summer of 2015 and Toyota hopes to sell around 3,000 units by the end of 2017. Demand in Europe is expected to be much less, with the automaker estimating 50 to 100 units a year by 2016.